2008 Woodie Awards
'A huge improvement'
Thanks to a noise ordinance and increased enforcement, Orono is as quiet as it's ever been, say police
Tony Reaves
Issue date: 12/4/06 Section: News
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According to Orono Police Chief Gary Duquette, the town would regularly see house parties with as many as 300 people in past years. "You could have a night where there would be 3 or 4 parties that size scattered around the town," Duquette said.
Then, in the fall of 2002, Orono resident Michael Curtis was assaulted outside his home after asking a noisy group to take their party outside. "I was lying on the grass and there was at least two guys punching and kicking me," Curtis told The Maine Campus at the time.
No one was charged for the assault, and in the coming months Orono and university officials searched for ways to remedy the rift that the incident created. At public hearings, other Orono residents living near students voiced complaints about noise and property destruction.
A year later, Orono drafted the Disorderly Property Ordinance, meant to prevent repeated loud gatherings by holding landlords responsible for noise made by residents. The ordinance was approved in March of 2004 and became effective a month later.
"I think there's been a huge improvement," Duquette said of the time in which the law has been in effect. Parties still happen, but Duquette said they're "not the huge blowouts we've had for years and years and years."
Under the ordinance, landlords receive a warning the first time a "disorderly event" occurs on their property. Disorderly events can include loud music, boisterous gatherings or altercations on the property.
It's up to the landlord to crack down on the residents. If police report a second disorderly event within 60 days, the property is classified as a Disorderly Property and a third incident within 120 days of the original incident will incur a fine to the landlord of at least $500 but not greater than $1000.
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